What Your Business Can Learn from GoDaddy’s IPO

Conor Treacy

What Your Business Can Learn from GoDaddy’s IPO

At the beginning of April, GoDaddy officially became a publicly traded company. Given that the company is the world’s biggest domain name registrar and web hosting company, its IPO is very fitting. While it’s common to look at a massive company like GoDaddy and get the feeling that they’re in a completely different sphere, that wasn’t always the case.

In today’s tech market, the press obsession with startups can make it seem like countless 20 year olds are becoming overnight millionaires. However, when you dig deeper into the data, that’s simply not the case. Not only are the majority of successful entrepreneurs older when they start their company, but there’s generally much more to the story than what gets hyped with the latest hot startups.

Since startups that may disappear in a year dominant tech news cycles, Big Red SEO thought it would be helpful to look at some lessons from a company that spent just under two decades building themselves up:

Stand for Something

Whether it’s because of their racy Super Bowl ads or the antics of their founder, there are plenty of people who absolutely hate GoDaddy. However, with over 13 million customers, there are also a lot of people who really like this company. That divide is the first lesson that Omaha businesses can learn from GoDaddy. The reason GoDaddy creates such strong opinions is because they have a very clear sense of what they stand for. Although the brand they’ve developed drives some people away, it allows them to attract far more customers than their competitors who don’t have a strong brand.

This lesson is a clear remedy for one of the biggest mistakes that businesses across countless sectors make. Because they know growth is important, they want their business to appeal to everyone. Unfortunately, instead of unlocking growth, this strategy has the opposite effect of not connecting with anyone. In order to build the type of brand that leads to real growth, businesses need to pick what they stand for and then focus their message on a very specific audience.

Don’t Be Afraid to Get Creative with Marketing

While Big Red SEO finds domain registrations and web hosting to be quite interesting, we understand that these aren’t topics which have much appeal to the general public. Since GoDaddy made that realization as well, they decided to think outside the box with their marketing. By taking some marketing risks over the years, GoDaddy successfully became the service that people from all walks of life associate with registering a domain name.

Although it’s unlikely that you’ll be running racy Super Bowl ads anytime soon, understanding the potential of creative marketing is still very useful. This is especially true if you’re in a B2B industry. On the surface, many B2B industries don’t seem to provide exciting opportunities for marketing. However, as long as you’re willing to get a little creative, it becomes possible to come up with ideas that will make your business stand out and connect with the right audience.

Play the Long Game

GoDaddy was founded all the way back in 1997. That means it took nearly two decades before the company went public. In today’s tech world, that makes GoDaddy look like a dinosaur. However, given the fact that they survived the tech bubble and the financial crisis while countless other tech companies went under, there are plenty of lessons that today’s startups can learn from GoDaddy.

Startups aren’t the only type of business that can learn from GoDaddy’s long march to success. The big takeaway for any business should be that it takes time to find real success. While slow but steady growth can feel frustrating at times, it’s important to remember that if you want to build a business which is going to stand the test of time, you need to be in it for the long game.

Put Customers Ahead of Everything Else

On the subject of long-term success, it’s worth mentioning that there’s simply no way for a business to find it without making their customers happy. Although there was a time when many companies seemed to be putting customer support on the backburner, more have come around and realized that their business will suffer if they don’t take great care of their customers.

Know What’s Next on Your Journey

Going public is a very big accomplishment for GoDaddy. But as their chief financial officer made clear, that doesn’t mean they’re planning to stand still. Instead, the company views the IPO as the next chapter in the life of their business. This is the type of attitude businesses must have in order to stay relevant and thrive. So regardless of where your Omaha business is currently, it’s important to have a clear idea of where you want to take it next.

Work with the Right Partner: (402) 522-6468

Successfully growing a business is a team effort. That means turning to others when help is needed. So whether you want more traffic for your website or want to build a stronger brand, Big Red SEO is here to help. As an established service provider with a track record of success, we take a lot of pride in helping the businesses we work with grow.

Unlike plenty of other service providers, we’re not interested in making a quick buck. Instead, we care about building long-term relationships that enable us to have a significant impact on Omaha businesses. So if you want to work with a partner that truly cares about driving results for your business, please call us at (402) 522-6468 to set up a consultation.

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